Kip Jones

KIP JONES, an American by birth, has been studying and working in the UK for more than 20 years.
Under the umbrella term of 'arts-led research', his main efforts have involved developing tools
from the arts and humanities for use by social scientists in research and its impact on a wider
public or a Perfomative Social Science.

Jones was Reader in Performative Social Science and Qualitative Research at
Bournemouth University for 15 years.
He is now a Visiting Scholar and and an independent author and scholar.

Kip has produced films and written many articles for academic journals and authored chapters
for books on topics such as masculinity, ageing and rurality, and older LGBT citizens.
Jones' most recent work involves working with Generation Z youth to tell their stories using
social media.
His ground-breaking use of qualitative methods, including Auto-fiction, biography
and auto-ethnography, and the use of tools from the arts in social science research
and dissemination are well-known.

Jones acted as Author and Executive Producer of
the award-winning short film, RUFUS STONE, funded by Research Councils UK.
The film is now available for free viewing on the Internet
and has been viewed by more than 14,000 people in 150 countries.

Areas of expertise
• Close relationships, culture and ethnicity
• Social psychology, sociology
• Ageing, self and identity
• Interpersonal processes, personality,
individual differences,
social networks, prejudice and stereotyping
• Sexuality and sexual orientation
• Creativity and the use of the
arts in Social Science

Media experience
His work has been reported widely
in the media, including:
BBC Radio 4,BBC TV news,Times
Higher Education, Sunday New
York Times, International
Herald-Tribune
and The Independent.

Saturday 6 July 2019

The Big Night


I was assisting Trevor in a fitting for a white formal shirt attached to boxer shorts. Supposedly, these are designed so that the shirt doesn’t ride up making one look untidy over an evening. It’s the sort of thing that the male dancers on Strictly* wear, I am told. I didn’t quite understand why moral support was needed for this fitting, but then yards of piqué cotton tugging at your nether region might be a bit disconcerting. At least for the first time.

I then rang Fiona as requested. After a bit she answered.

“Who is this?” she said in a disguised voice, but I knew it was her.

“It’s Kip about your to-do list”.


There was a deep sigh from the other end.
“Oh! We’re under high security alert and have been told to be particularly careful on the telephone!”


“I’m sorry to hear that”.


She was often overly dramatic, sometimes without reason.


I tried to calm the situation. “I have completed all the tasks on the to-do list that you gave me”.


Fiona loved to-do lists almost as much as she loved talking on the phone. I dislike both. She wasn’t going to let me off lightly this time though.

 “Oh, you’re a star!” “What a champion!” “You make us so proud!” She gushed these phrases, which she was known to use frequently, like verbal hashtags.

I escaped further conversation (and the next to-do list) by feigning that something was wrong with the phone line. I think I even made silly static sounds into the mouthpiece like I’d seen on TV.


The Big Night was upon us!

*Strictly Come Dancing is a BBC entertainment programme where B and C list celebrities try to raise their status by dancing with professional ballroom dancers on TV. Some do become more famous, some even marry their dance partner.  A lot of legs akimbo hanky-panky does go on after rehearsals. Or so we are told.